Question about Ammonia in water

[jlbfish]

I have a tank cycling it has really only been cycling about a week. Each time I test the water the ammonia level is .25 I have done water changes almost every day. 1/2 or 1/4 of the tank. Still .25 I skipped a water change yesterday and tested this am and it was still .25 not higher.

My husband and I tested our drinking water and the ammonia in that was .5 then we tested the treated water we were going to add to the aquarium (treated with SeaChem Prime) it was .5.

My question is when we are adding water to the aquarium are we in fact raising the ammonia? or hurting the cycling process?

Thanks!
Jana:confused

 

[phoenixkiller]

Sounds like your tank is still in the first cycling stage. Just give it some time, and keep up on your water changes!

 

[jcolon]

Just keep at what your doing, ammo in tap's becoming more common as municipalities switch from chlorine to chloramine. The seachem prime will neutralize the ammo long enough for bacteria to consume it.

 

[jlk]

Is this a fish-in cycle? I would test daily- if your ammonia rises above .50ppm, I would do a water change. As Prime is only effective for @48hr period of time, you may want to do a water change every other day to keep an active level of Prime present in your tank. Once your tank is fully cycled, your bb will eat through the ammonia in your tap pretty quickly & the Prime will keep it detoxed so it doesnt affect your fish. You should test your tap for nitrites as well- if there are none, you will want to watch your nitrite levels in your tank & do water changes as needed to keep them at or below .25ppm. Hope this helps!

 

[HeatherW]

i had the same question. my tap tests at .5ppm also. I would do what jlk said - do a PWC of 50% when you are testing over .5ppm OR every couple of days to refresh your prime in your tank (the prime will detoxify the ammonia for about 48 hours)

so yes, IMO when your tank is at .25 and you do a PWC you will be raising your ammonia levels in there. the tank is still cycling and eventually it will handle the tap ammonia. I have 3 tanks that all read 0 ammonia so just hang in there!

 

[jlbfish]

This is a fish-in cycle.

I tested again this am. I did a 50% water change yesterday and this am the ammonia levels look like they are up to .50 and the Nitrates as more than 0 but not quite .5 no Nitrites yet. I am assuming this is good?

I will do a 50% water change again this afternoon (as long as it can wait a little bit).

Thanks for all the help!

 

[jlk]

Your doing a good job! Just stay on top of your testing & wate changes as needed.

 

[jlbfish]

My husband doesn't get it. I don't either. How does changing the water help? If the tap is .5 the tank is .5 and the water going in is .5 what does it do?

I am still gonna change it we just don't get it! LOL. Also I am pretty sure it is but I want to make sure this is a BAD time to bring home the other 4 tetras to fill out our school. Before things changed I was going to bring them so that they could all get used to each other but it just may not matter and may be a bad time to add them with the ammonia starting to rise.

THANKS!

OH and how much sea chem do you add? I got the big bottle (stupid of me) which says 5 mL for 50 gallons so I have been adding 1/2 mL (which seems so tiny) per 5 gallons. Does that seem right?

 

[jlk]

If your getting readings of .5 ammonia, a water change isnt necessary every day. Every other day should be fine if the levels dont go above .5. Prime is only effective for @48hrs- so a water change to re-establish effective levels of prime every other day should be fine. Does this make sense?

1/2ml sounds right unless you have very high chlorine/chloramine levels- then I would add 1ml (double dose).

 

[HeatherW]

My husband doesn't get it. I don't either. How does changing the water help? If the tap is .5 the tank is .5 and the water going in is .5 what does it do?

OK, here is how I made sense of it. two parts to the equation. if you are doing PWCs every other day you are replenishig the Prime (water conditioner) that will neutralize the ammonia. so even though it is reading .5ppm it is not the bad ammonia. or we should say the not as bad...
second part to the equation. if you are reading .5 today tomorrow it will be even higher. I might let it go to .75ppm but don't want it to go to 1ppm. if it is .5 you need to make a judgement call. the color shadings of your test results are subjective. so you know what it looked like yesterday at say .5ppm and today you say it is still .5ppm but is it a little darker, a little lighter... you will just have to make your best guess.
there is a chart out there about ammonia toxicity and it all has to do with PH and the temp of your tank. I used this as a guide to help me with the water changes. I think it might be in the stickies... I will have to see if i can find it or maybe someone else can... it really explains the whole ammonia stuff
does this help? the general rule of thumb is if in doubt, change the water

 

[HeatherW]

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/your-guide-to-ammonia-toxicity-159994.html

hope this works... read this and see if it helps any